Chapter 28: Ryuen, Making His Grand Entrance!

"Saiki-kun!"

A few minutes later, Saiki Kusuo arrived at the café and immediately spotted Shiina Hiyori.

Shiina Hiyori was smiling, her light purple eyes focused intently on Saiki Kusuo.

Even before Saiki Kusuo reached the café, he could clearly hear Shiina Hiyori's thoughts.

[Haha, this is the first time I've invited Saiki-kun out... No, no, this is the first time I've invited anyone my age out...]

[After all, I don't have much in common with others. They're not interested in mystery novels at all.]

[Saiki-kun should be here soon...]

Shiina Hiyori was completely clueless when it came to social interactions. While others saw her as somewhat "aloof," in reality, Shiina Hiyori was eager to make friends.

In her eyes, Saiki Kusuo was her only friend. They shared the same interests, and to Shiina Hiyori, Saiki Kusuo was nothing short of a kindred spirit. That's why she always valued her interactions with him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Saiki Kusuo greeted Shiina Hiyori politely.

"No, no! I just got here too!"

Shiina Hiyori quickly waved her hand, indicating that Saiki Kusuo shouldn't worry.

However, using his telepathy, Saiki Kusuo knew that Shiina Hiyori had actually arrived at the café much earlier and had been hesitating for a while before sending him the message.

Saiki Kusuo looked down and saw several different types of coffee pudding on the table.

"I ordered these for you in advance, Saiki-kun. I hope you like them. If not, I can buy some other flavors..."

Before Shiina Hiyori could finish, Saiki Kusuo nodded vigorously.

This was coffee pudding. There was no way he could refuse.

'This looks really good. Although it's all coffee pudding, it's made differently from the ones in the cafeteria. The presentation is also very elegant. It's bound to taste amazing.'

Saiki Kusuo leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed on the pudding in front of him. The translucent pudding looked incredibly tempting.

"That's great!"

Seeing Saiki Kusuo's reaction, Shiina Hiyori's smile widened.

[I haven't been to the school cafeteria... There are too many people... But I've seen Saiki-kun coming out of the cafeteria a few times, always carrying some desserts and snacks. Coffee pudding seems to be his favorite, so I ordered these.]

'Yare yare, so she saw me buying desserts to take back to my dorm a few times? I mainly did that to avoid running into troublesome people.'

Saiki Kusuo heard Shiina Hiyori's thoughts. Through her observations, she had deduced that Saiki Kusuo had a sweet tooth, which was why she had ordered desserts she thought he'd like.

Shiina Hiyori had also calculated the approximate time it would take for Saiki Kusuo to arrive at the café, so the desserts were served just as he walked in.

Shiina Hiyori's observational and deductive skills were quite impressive, likely due to her love of mystery novels. Saiki Kusuo didn't mind this.

Saiki Kusuo picked up a small spoon, gently scooped up a piece of pudding, and put it in his mouth.

In the next moment, his eyes widened slightly. Although the taste was different from the cafeteria's pudding, it was still absolutely delicious.

Under the influence of the pudding, Saiki Kusuo almost showed a "blissful" expression for a moment.

"It seems Saiki-kun really loves sweets!"

Shiina Hiyori smiled, then quickly pulled out a few books from her bag and handed them to Saiki Kusuo.

"These are some novels I've read recently. If you're interested, you can take a look!"

Although Shiina Hiyori wasn't usually good at talking to others, when it came to mystery novels, she seemed like a completely different person.

"Thank you very much."

Saiki Kusuo nodded and took the books Shiina Hiyori handed him.

Although Shiina Hiyori's thoughts had already spoiled most of the content the moment he took the books, since Shiina Hiyori was treating him and her personality was quite rare in the school, Saiki Kusuo decided to accept the books.

Seeing Saiki Kusuo take the novels, Shiina Hiyori's smile seemed to brighten even more:

"By the way, Saiki-kun, congratulations on moving up to Class C!"

"Thank you, but didn't your class essentially drop to Class D?"

Strictly speaking, Saiki Kusuo's class and Shiina Hiyori's class were rivals. However, he knew Shiina Hiyori's words were sincere.

"There's nothing we can do about that. Everyone's still adjusting to the school's pace, and we weren't fully prepared for the surprise exam. So, we'll just have to accept the situation."

Shiina Hiyori shook her head slightly.

[But because of this demotion, the atmosphere in our class has changed a bit. Ryuen-kun used some extreme methods to forcibly unite the class. Although I don't agree with his methods, from a long-term perspective, his strength is necessary if our class wants to move forward.]

[After the results came out, Ryuen-kun seems to have set his sights on Saiki-kun's class.]

[I don't like how these conflicts are causing rifts between classmates and classes, affecting everyone's harmony... If possible, I hope everyone can get along peacefully...]

'Ryuen?'

Saiki Kusuo heard an unfamiliar name. It was probably one of Shiina Hiyori's classmates.

However, Saiki Kusuo had no interest in this Ryuen person, nor did he care about the conflicts between classes.

Of course, that was as long as these things didn't affect him.

"Isn't this Hiyori?"

Just then, a unfamiliar male voice sounded behind Saiki Kusuo.

Although he couldn't see the person's face, through Shiina Hiyori's thoughts, he could guess who it was.

Ryuen Kakeru.